


Take a Bite of my Heart Tonight

by Kariki (orphan_account)



Category: The Amazing Spider-Man (Movies - Webb)
Genre: Alpha!Peter, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Collars, Everyone is happy damn it, Harry is a Little Shit, M/M, Omega Verse, Omega!Harry, Parksborn, Peter Parker's a dork, Peter is oblivious and Harry isn't much better, Tags to be added as needed, alternative universe
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-06-20
Updated: 2014-07-16
Packaged: 2018-02-05 10:04:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,145
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1814575
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/Kariki
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry Osborn comes back to New York after spending eight years in a boarding school in the UK.  Now, he's all grown up and wearing an omega's collar.  Peter has no idea what he's getting into.</p><p>(Abandoned because I feel like I'd have to do an entire rewrite at this point and I'm just not that invested anymore)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Reunion

**Author's Note:**

> Title is from the song "Animal" by Neon Trees.

The collar was obscured by the layers of clothing his old friend wore but Peter's eyes were instantly drawn to it. The leather of it was dark and rich in color, a complex design – Celtic? – burned along the edges of it and it was just barely visible over the collar of the white dress shirt Harry wore. 

It looked expensive and it probably was.

It wasn't uncommon for omegas, especially young, unbonded omegas, to wear a large collar that protected their neck and shoulders from unwanted bonding bites. There was an entire industry for them, fashion designers who specialized in them. Gwen had a few different kinds of collars, a few for every day, and ones she wore when she dressed up. Peter was well acquainted with omega collars...

He just never thought he's see one on his best friend.

“Pete, what are you doing here?”

Peter forced his eyes away from the peek of leather and met his friend's eyes. He felt his cheeks heat up but he smiled through it. Harry's hair was darker than it used to be but his eyes were still that icy shade of blue. It made Peter want to smile at his old friend but he had a more serious reason for being here.

“Hey, I... I heard about your dad...”

“You didn't have to come here for that.” Harry shook his head and took another step down the marble staircase. The light from the windows hit him, making his skin seem paler and the leather all that much darker. “I mean, we all knew it was coming, one way or another.”

“Yeah, I know,” Peter wandered over to the bottom of the staircase. “It's just... you were there for me when my parents... I just wanted to do the same for you.”

“Thanks,” Harry said softly and Peter could feel the other boy's eyes looking him over. He took a step back and pointed a thumb over his shoulder. “I should... get back. There was a meeting and I...”

“Oh, oh, right,” Peter stammered, nodding. He turned and walked down a few steps then turned to look back up at Harry. “Right, CEO now. Meetings. I just... just wanted to make sure you were alright.”

“Yeah.”

“Sorry I interrupted.” Peter descended the last few steps and looked back up at Harry. “I, uh, I guess I'll see you around...”

“Yeah,” Harry nodded, watching Peter retreat. He looked back behind him toward where a servant was waiting for him to take him back to the meeting. To _escort_ him back to the meeting.

“You know what?” Harry said, taking the steps two at a time, reaching Peter just as he got to the door. “It can wait.”

“Really?” Peter blinked, looking back up the stairs where Harry had been. “Are... Are you sure?”

“Positive.” Harry grabbed Peter's hand and opened the large wooden doors, pulling Peter out after him before his butler could protest.

“Is this an escape?” Peter asked, smiling as Harry all but dragged him down the hall toward the elevators. “Am I an accomplice?” 

“Technically, ditching meetings isn't a crime,” Harry pressed a button and smiled at Peter, panting slightly. “But yes, this is an escape.”

“They're not going to send security guards or anything, are they?” Peter asked, stepping into the glass elevator behind Harry. “I mean, I am an alpha and everything.”

“And a very raggedy looking one at that,” Harry grinned, leaning back against the back wall and looked Peter over. “I can't believe you turned out to be an alpha,” Harry grinned, shaking his head. “Just look at you.”

It was true. Last time Harry had see him, he was tiny even for a ten year old. Harry had had a few good inches and ten pounds on him and Harry had been pretty small for a kid as well. Now the opposite was true. Peter was a good half a head on his old friend and whatever weight Peter had was in muscle. Harry's formerly straight and thin frame was now padded with the subtle curves and padding of a male omega.

Peter was really trying not to notice them.

Peter shrugged, hooking his thumbs into the straps of his backpack. “I'm full of surprises, what can I say?” Harry snorted.

“You're still kinda scrawny for an alpha though,” He said, crossing his arms with a smirk. “And the hair, what is that?”

“Hey, I might be scrawny but I can still pick you up and toss you around,” Peter laughed, puffing out his chest to make his muscles look bigger. It didn't work, especially when Harry took the opportunity to poke Peter in the ribs.

“Oh, I bet you could,” Harry laughed as Peter flinched back and covered his chest with his arms. Peter joined in.

“I really missed you, Pete,” Harry said softly as their laughter died. “I don't think I realized how much until now.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean,” Peter smiled gently, pulling Harry into a tight hug. “Good to have you back.”

* * *

Peter picked up a rock and turned it over in his hand, not ready to skip it over the water just yet. The escape from Oscorp went without a hitch. Harry called his driver up and they left the building without a single person stopping them. It wasn't surprising, since Harry was the CEO but a part of Peter hated how easily they let such an important omega, even if it was Harry, just walk out without a fight.

Peter furrowed his brow, mentally kicking his hindbrain for such sexist, overbearing alpha thoughts. He worried about Gwen and Aunt May all the time but he never thought they should stay indoors with twenty-four hour security. Ugh, he wasn't turning into one of those knothead asshole alphas, was he? The type that thought every omega was just a knot and a bite away from being their property? 

He never acted this way before, not with any of his previous exes, certainly not with Gwen. Well, he wanted to mate with Gwen, sure, but when they were both ready and not about to go to college, they were way too young for that anyway...

“What's that face for?” Peter blinked, snapped out of his mental rambling. Harry stood across from him, a hesitant smile on his lips.

“Sorry, I was just,” Peter motioned toward his head, “just thinking about some stuff.”

“Like what?” Harry asked, tossing a small rock in his hand as he looked over the water. 

“Just a lot of stuff,” Peter shrugged and half-heartedly skipped the stone the stone over the water. “I still can't believe you're an omega.”

“Didn't we go over this?” Harry laughed, smirking over at Peter. “It's not that hard to understand.”

“Yeah, I know.” Peter shrugged. “It's just... hard to wrap my head around.”

A thought occurred to him.

“Is that... that why Norman... sent you off?” Peter asked, looking over to his friend. “I mean, you just disappeared one day and...”

“I think so. Well, a little bit anyway.” Harry shrugged. “Apparently omegas are harder to ignore than betas or alphas.” Harry threw another rock but it just landed with a loud splash and sank. “It all happened pretty fast. I mean, I presented and it seemed like I was packing as soon as that first heat was over...” Harry shrugged, a bitterness edging into his tone. “But for all I know, he might have had all alpha and all beta schools lined up for me.”

“He sent you to an all omega school?” Peter asked, rolling a pebble in his hands, not ready to throw it just yet. 

“The 'Eleanor Florence School for Omegas'.” Harry scoffed at the name.

“Wow, what was that like?”

“Expensive as hell and just as boring,” Harry shrugged and shoved his hands into his pockets. “It was one of those real conservative type of schools, you know?”

“Norman sent you to a conservative school?” Peter asked, smirking. “He really didn't seem the type.”

“Conservative might not be the right word.” Harry said, staring out over the water. “They didn't teach the whole 'barefoot and pregnant' bullshit at least. They wanted to raise 'strong, independent' omegas.”

“That doesn't sound very conservative.” Peter said, finally flicking the rock over the water. It skipped ten times. Harry shook his head and muttered something about showoff alphas.

“No, but the way they went about it was very... archaic.” Harry shrugged. “They didn't allow suppressants, for a start. They wanted us to learn how to deal with heats instead of 'ignoring' them.”

“That's...” Peter wasn't sure what he thought about that because, yeah, learning to deal with heats was important but there was a reason there were suppressants. He might not go into heat but he'd heard about it enough times from Aunt May and Gwen. Heats _hurt_ , it was miserable. Being able to skip half of the four heats a year and have the two remaining heats dulled was a life changer – or so Peter had been told. “...Wow.”

Harry nodded, not having expected Peter to have any real sort of opinion on it.

“And no 'Heat Relief Products', as the staff called them.” Harry picked up another rock. 

“They called sex toys 'Heat relief products'?” Peter smirked. “Really?”

“Conservatives,” Harry laughed, shrugging. 

“That... sounds like it _sucked_.”

“You have no idea,” Harry shook his head. “One of the first things I did when I graduated was stock up on 'Heat relief products'.”

“Gross, too much info, Har.” Peter wrinkled his nose playfully. The toys were just a fact of life for omegas who were of age but that didn't mean Peter couldn't tease his friend about them. “Did you start using suppressants?”

“Um... not really, no.” Harry examined the small rock in his hand carefully. “You, uh, you know my father finally found a cure for his illness a few years ago, right?”

“Yeah?” Everyone had heard about it. Norman made such a gigantic deal about it: donated a _lot_ of money to related charities, threw a massive party, the whole works. For weeks, the news ran story after story about it. Looking back on it now, it was ironic that Norman still died due to the organ damage the diseased caused.

“It's hereditary,” Harry started, “Dad was thoughtful enough to tell me I would have gotten sick as soon as he found a cure. Would have appreciated more of a headsup, you know.”

“Yeah, but there's a cure now. You just said it.” Peter frowned.

“Yeah, but the thing is, it was designed mostly for Norman.” Harry scoffed. Peter looked up at Harry, concern and a bit of alarm clear on his face. “Don't look like that, Peter, it still works. It was just made with an alphas biochemistry in mind. It'll work with omegas well enough it just... doesn't react well with suppressants.”

Peter felt a flood of relief.

“So still no suppressants?”

“Nope,” Harry gave an exaggerated sigh. “That I can deal with. Plenty of supermodels with knots bigger than their brains. The fact that Norman's dick move did me a favor, that's what bothers me.”

“Just tears you up inside, huh?” Peter laughed. 

“Like you wouldn't believe.” 

“At least you got to go to England.” Peter reminded him, grinning. “That must have been something.”

Harry shrugged. “It was alright. It was an hour outside of London which made up for it.” Harry smirked, “American accents are quite attractive on that side of the pond.” 

“Ugh, you must have been that school's worse nightmare.” Peter laughed.

“I certainly tried,” Harry joined in. “Lost count of how many times I got caught. They must have sent my father thousands of emails over the years. Drinking, gambling, sneaking in strange alphas and betas to partake in drinking and gambling. Only reason they put up with it is because Norman just kept donating to them.”

“Did they name a wing after him?” Peter laughed. 

“No but they should have named one after me!”

“Well, come on, Private School.” Peter grinned, grabbing the shoulder of Harry's jacket and pulling him closer so he could sling an arm over his shoulders. “Let's get something to eat. Something cheap and greasy that's on a dollar menu.”

“Gross,” Harry wrinkled his nose but didn't protest. “If we're going cheap, you're buying.”

“Ugh, fine,” Peter grinned. “Wouldn't want to break a hundred for a dollar hamburger, would you?”

* * *

“So what do you plan to do now?” Peter asked, setting down Harry's tray in front of him before sliding into the chair opposite him. Harry's tray looked so empty, an order of fries and a shake, compared to Peter's hamburger, fries, shake, all large. 

“How do you mean?”

“Now that you're back in New York?” Peter shrugged, unwrapping his hamburger. “Besides the CEO thing.”

Harry shrugged, ripping open a packet of ketchup. “Just figured I'd do the CEO thing, as you call it.” He dragged a fry over the puddle of red. 

“What, no more dating supermodels?” Peter asked, smirking. “I've seen those gossip magazines.”

“I was a favorite of theirs,” Harry said dryly, quirking an eyebrow. “None of that was ever serious, Pete. Just a bit of fun, especially around my time of the year.”

“Aw, no Norwegian model's going to come barging in to defend your honor?” Peter smirked, taking a large bite of his burger.

“Oh, God, I hope not.” Harry laughed, shaking his head. “I tried to avoid the clingy ones but one or two always seemed to seep through.” 

Peter nodded, mouth too full to talk.

“I try to avoid relationships anyway.” Harry shrugged. “Too complicated.”

Peter thought about Gwen. He could understand wanting to avoid complicated.

“Yeah, I hear that.” He shook his head. “Relationships are... way, way, way complicated.”

Harry looked at Peter, smiling slightly. “Talking from experience?”

“Uh, yeah.” Peter shook his head, studying his already half eaten hamburger. “Girl I've been dating. Gwen, her name's Gwen. She works for you, actually.”

“Works for me?” Harry laughed, popping a fry into his mouth. “Good worker, I hope?”

“Oh, the best,” Peter said, completely serious. “ _Amazing_.”

“If she's so amazing, what's the problem?”

Peter groaned and took another large bite of burger. “Stop eating your emotions, Pete.” Peter swallowed hard.

“It's... complicated.” he said, wincing. “It just.. it's like we want different things but we also don't.” Peter threw up his hands, shaking his head. “It's...”

“Complicated, you said,” Harry filled in for him. “Think she's the one?”

“I don't know.” Peter shoved a few fries into his mouth. “I just... it's hard to imagine her not being there, you know?”

“Not really...”

“It's... it's like she's a part of me.” Peter tried again, crumpling up the empty french fry packet. “Like... a part of me feels missing because she's not with me...”

Harry shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. “I've never gotten that deep before, Pete.” He watched as Peter inhaled the last of his hamburger. “Closest I can think of is when I got sent off to England but I was just a kid then.”

Peter nodded, sighing.

“Have you mated with her?” Harry asked bluntly.

“No, no, nothing like that.” Peter felt his cheeks heat up. “We didn't want to bond or anything like that until after college.”

“Have you seen her without her collar?” Harry considered something. “She does wear a collar, right?”

“Yeah, she does, no, I haven't.” Peter laughed softly. “We were waiting, remember?”

“Right,” Harry said softly before shrugging. “If you miss her so much, why not try and get her back?”

“I don't want to be that kind of alpha, you know?” Peter shook his head, looking forlornly down at his empty tray. “I don't want to make her do anything she doesn't want to.”

“You're too nice for your own good sometimes, Pete.” Harry laughed, shaking his head. He laced his fingers together and stretched his arms over his head until his back popped. His collar followed his neck and shoulders and Peter could see the rounded edge at the bottom of the collar.

Somehow, he had almost forgotten his friend was wearing it. It looked so odd and out of place around Harry's thin neck. 

“What's it like?” Peter asked, tearing up the empty hamburger wrapper as he watched Harry settle back down to eat his fries.

“What's what like?” Harry asked, nibbling on a soggy fry, mostly to annoy Peter.

“The, uh,” Peter watched Harry swallow, his Adam's apple moving underneath the leather of the collar, “the collar. I mean, is it comfortable?” Peter asked, looking at the collar openly now. “I mean... it doesn't look like it...”

Harry shrugged, reaching up to run a finger over the leather, passing over the metal closure at the front.

“It took some getting used but, yeah, it's alright. It's padded,” Harry shrugged. “When I was a kid, it felt like a baby was trying to put me in a choke hold.” 

Harry put down his nibbled fry and looked Peter over. “Pete, is my collar bothering you?”

“No!” Peter felt his cheeks flare with heat. “It's just... well, when you left you didn't wear one and now you do...”

“Yeah, that happens.” Harry smirked, leaning back in the ugly yellow seat. “Omegas usually start wearing collars after they present...”

“Well, yeah,” Peter ran a hand through his hair, trying to think of how to phrase his thoughts.

“Peter, do you have a collar kink?” Harry's smirk was becoming more diabolical by the second.

“What, no!” Could a person blush everywhere? To Peter, it felt like the blush from his cheeks had spread out to engulf his entire body. “No, it's nothing like that!”

“Do you want to touch it?” Harry continued, leaning forward onto the plastic table. 

“No!” Peter yelped, leaning back away from Harry. “Yes, maybe, _not in that way_.”

Harry looked up at Peter through his lashes, a seductive pull creeping into his smirk. “Peter, do you want to wear my collar?”

“Harry, no!” People turned to look at their booth, curiosity and disapproval clear on their faces. Harry fell back into his seat, laughing.

“That's not funny,” Peter muttered, feeling the stares on the back of his neck. “It's not like that. Really.”

Harry crossed his arms, still grinning.

“Yeah, yeah, I believe you. You're such a spazz, you know that?” Peter tried not to look insulted. “So how is it like, Pete?”

“I don't know,” Peter shrugged, pouting down at his empty food tray. “It's like... every other omega I know, I've known they were an omega.”

Harry raised an eyebrow.

“Like, they were never anything else, you know?” Peter continued, feeling more and more idiotic as he spoke. “I guess I'm just not used to the idea that suddenly you're an omega. I know that's stupid.”

“It is stupid.”

“Yeah, but there it is.” Peter shrugged helplessly. “And the collar thing just... it's just a kind of confirmation I wasn't expecting.”

“Okay, I think I understand it.” Harry leaned forward, hands laced together on the table, and met Peter's gaze. “You don't have a collar kink, you have a Harry Osborn's collar kink.”

“Oh, good, you're still egotistical.” Peter muttered through a second bout of blushing. “Glad to see that hasn't changed.”

“Don't worry about it, Pete,” Harry smiled, shaking his head. “I don't plan to go bare-neck anytime soon so you'll have plenty of time to gawk at it.”

“How considerate of you.” Peter said dryly, reaching for one of Harry's fries.

“I try.” Harry slapped Peter's hand before he could steal one. 

“Come on, let's get out of here.” He took up his small cardboard container of fries, to keep them out of Peter's creeping fingers, and stood up. “My handlers have got to be pissing themselves by now.”

“You have handlers?” Peter smirked, following Harry out the door and into the night. “Are they the ones who hold the hair dryer?”

“Please, Peter. I pay a guy specifically to hold the hair dryer.” Harry answered, not missing a beat. “It's his only job, actually.”

“Good benefits, I hope.”

“Health and dental.” Harry nodded, “Even threw in vision.”

“Impressive.”

“It's a very important job, Pete.”

* * *

The Osborn mansion was just as Peter remembered it: large, foreboding, and incredibly expensive looking. 

“Wow, it looks like something out of a Tim Burton movie.” Peter looked up at the impressive building. It wasn't that it was falling down or whimsically crooked, it just looked... empty. It was creepy. “Why are all the lights out?”

Harry shrugged. “Don't really see the point in having them on, I guess.” The door opened the silhouette of the mansion's butler could be seen. “I don't think I'm going to stay here too long.”

“What?” Peter looked at Harry in alarm before rationality kicked in. He meant the house, not New York. 

“More my father's style than mine,” Harry smirked, sparing Peter's ego for now. “I'll find some other place and keep this around for when I have to impress someone.”

“Right,” Peter nodded, ignoring the flush of embarrassment. Of course Harry wasn't going to leave. Idiot. He sneaked a glance at Harry's collar.

“So... ugh, guess I'll see you around then.” Peter stammered, walking backward along the sidewalk. “Call me,” He mimed holding a phone to his ear, “whenever you want, alright?”

“Don't worry, I will,” Harry smirked back at him before closing the large oak door.

“' _Call me_ ',” Peter muttered to himself, reaching up to pull at his messy hair. He ducked into a nearby alley. “Fucking smooth, Parker. Be more of a dork next time why don't you?”

Spider-man swung out of the alley, still muttering.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry needs Peter's help... but not in the way Peter was expecting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I meant to wait until I had this entire fic finished before I posted another chapter... but then things came up and now I feel bad about how long it was taking. So have this chapter early!

The text only read: _**Peter help me**_ , and had been followed by the name of one of the more expensive restaurants in town.

The restaurant probably should have been a hint that the 'help me' wasn't meant in a 'I'm going to die' way and, most likely, wouldn't require superpowers of any kind. It was only the fact that the building wasn't on fire or really damaged in any way that stopped Spider-man from swinging in through the large glass window that looked out onto the busy street. The lack of screaming and police cars backed up this observation.

Peter groaned and sat down on the edge of the building. He pulled the mask off and shrugged off his backpack to pull out his phone. 

Nope, right restaurant.

Okay, so he over-reacted but come on, he was a superhero! The words 'Help Me' invoke a very specific line of thinking. A line of thinking that included costumes and hitting the bad guys with trashcan lids.

_**what is it?**_

Yeah, he probably should have texted back first...

He set the phone down and ran his hands through his hair, groaning loudly. The last few weeks had been intense. 

Harry had kept his word about calling him. They talked every day now. Harry would vent about the sexist assholes that seemed to make up most of his advisory board, Peter would lament about his boss's intense dislike of Spider-man and how he wants Peter to get 'better' pictures (by better, Jameson meant 'incriminating') and they'd just vent to each other. It was kind of nice at first. Except the board members were becoming less subtle about their dislike of Harry's dynamic and lifestyle, Jameson was yelling more than usual mostly because Spider-man's 'arrests' were leaving the petty criminals with more bruises than was strictly necessary.

Okay, so taking out one's secondhand frustration on would-be car thieves and muggers hadn't been the best of PR moves. It didn't help Harry out in any way and Jameson's unending ravings about Spider-man didn't seem quite so unjustified but it was hard. He couldn't help Harry out with this and it was so _frustrating_. It's not like Spider-man can just swing into a meeting one day and force all those old cronies to respect his best friend and if tried to interrupt a meeting a Peter Parker, he'd just be escorted out and they'd have another reason to give Harry hell.

A few minutes passed and Peter's phone remained silent. Peter didn't like it. Harry wouldn't just text him something like that for no reason, right? It was no secret that Harry could be an ass but this was his style. He wouldn't joke about needing help, his ego wouldn't let him. 

Peter sighed loudly and looked down at the brightly lit building. It was actually pretty easy to see into the restaurant, the large windows seemed to be designed to let the poorer folks passing by see just what they were missing. Apparently, privacy wasn't what the patrons of this fine establishment wanted; what they wanted was to show off. 

Typical.

It only took Peter a few moments of searching to find his friend. He could see Harry in a booth toward the back with some guy that looked like he was in his late twenties. The booth was semi-circular and obviously meant for either a large group of people or for a couple looking to spread out and enjoy each other's company – neither was happening here.

Harry was at the very edge of the cushioned seat, barely hanging on while the guy, an alpha if Peter had to guess, continued to invade whatever personal space Harry had left. Peter could see Harry's phone on the other side of the table, by the alpha's hand and out of Harry's reach. The guy even had his arm draped around Harry's shoulders. It looked like he was trying to pull him back deeper into the booth.

That was all Peter needed to see. He yanked opened his backpack and dumped his clothes out onto the gravel covered roof and began pulling on the civilian clothes. His landing in the alleyway wasn't what one would call graceful. His shirt was still over his head in a makeshift hood and his pants were falling off as he tried force his left foot into his right sneaker. He was still wearing Spider-man's boot on his right foot.

Frustrated, he pulled the loose t-shirt over his costume and fastened his pants before he shot a web at the remaining boot and yanked it off. He wobbled for a moment, almost toppling over as he hopped on one foot as he managed to shove the boot into backpack. He shimmied his feet into his sneakers, not bothering to tie them up properly, and slung the backpack over his shoulder. 

He jogged across the street and all but stumbled through the restaurant's doors, drawing the host's gaze. The man looked Peter over, taking in the rumpled and (now) dirty shirt and jeans, and quirked an unimpressed eyebrow.

“I'm afraid we don't take walk-ins,” The host told him, tone carefully neutral. “Unless, of course, you have a reservation?” The question was accompanied by an expression of extreme doubt that normally would have wounded Peter's pride if he wasn't in a hurry.

“Uh, no, sorry, looking for someone,” Peter shook his head and tried to peer around the man, looking for the booth where he had last seen Harry. It didn't take long to spot him, even with the host trying to obscure his view. Peter ducked under the host's arm and hurried over to his friend.

Harry was slouched down in the booth, his arms crossed and his blue eyes focused on the far wall with such a deep determination that most would find off-putting. Somehow, the alpha Harry was with didn't seem to notice or didn't care. Harry's eyes flicked over toward Peter as he approached and the annoyance melted from Harry's face. The alpha only looked up from Harry when Peter stopped at their table.

“Peter!” Harry voice was convincingly surprised but Peter could see the relief in the set of Harry's eyes and mouth. How long had he been wanting an escape? Peter thought of Harry's determined gaze he had seen just a few seconds before and wondered if that's how a trapped animal looked before it started chewing off its own leg. “What are you doing here? I wasn't expecting you.”

“You know this person?” The alpha beside Harry looked at Peter with open disdain. It was hard to tell how tall the other alpha was but he was obviously bigger than Peter. The expensive suit the alpha wore did little to hide the hard muscle underneath. Peter thought of Harry's preference for 'knothead' models and this guy seemed to fit that description with his styled dark hair and overly white teeth. 

_What, did this guy spend hours working out or something?_ Peter glared at the arm locked around Harry's shoulders. He could so take this guy.

“This is my assistant,” Harry answered, already trying to wiggle out from under the arm. Peter blinked and focused on his friend, his brain struggling to catch up. He was here because Harry called him, because Harry wanted his help. He wasn't here to make an ass of himself because some asshole was getting too handsy with his best friend.

Well, maybe that was the reason he was here. It wasn't off the table just yet...

“I thought the pretty beta was your assistant?” The alpha reluctantly pulled his arm away but only so he could place a hand on Harry's thigh, keeping him in place. He didn't move away either, still content to be in the omega's personal space. There was a hardness in the alpha's dark eyes as he shifted in the booth to look at Harry. He wasn't happy with the explanation or the possibilities it hinted at. Either his date was lying or he really did have an alpha assistant that was only too happy to interrupt his boss's private affairs. 

Peter felt the hairs on his neck bristle as the alpha loomed beside Harry, the dark eyes flickering between the two friends.

“Felicia is my personal assistant at Oscorp,” Harry's smile didn't quite reach his eyes but his tone was firm. “Peter is my personal assistant for everything else. Much simpler that way.”

“Your personal assistant is an alpha?” The man asked, lowering his voice as he continued to try and intimidate both Harry and Peter. Peter was reminded of how much bigger than guy was compared to Harry and him. It made him want to stand up straighter to try and compensate.

“I'm sorry, Mr. Osborn,” Peter said, eyes focused on the other alpha though he tried not to glare, “but an emergency's come up that needs your supervision.” 

“Right, I thought as much,” Harry nodded, already reaching across the table for his phone but the man placed a hand on top of Harry's, stopping him.

“Have your assistant handle it,” the man instructed, frowning darkly as he glanced over at Peter. “That's what you have him for, isn't it?”

“Rob, if I have to go, I have to go.” Harry all but jerked his hand out from under the alpha's and stood. 

“And just what kind of emergency is this?” Rob stood up as well. The man was taller than Peter had first thought... by a good six inches. Yeah, that wounded his ego a tinsy bit but he could still take him easily. 

“Rob, stop it,” Harry sighed at the alpha, reaching over to grab Peter's hand. “If you had just let me have my phone, I might have been able to stop whatever it is that's happened.” Harry's tone was calm and carefully passive. It seemed to work, however uncharacteristic it was for Harry to speak like that. The alpha's tense shoulders became slightly less tense. “I just have to go and fix whatever's wrong, okay?” Rob huffed an affirmative, still unhappy. “You can take care of the bill, right?”

Another huff.

Satisfied, Harry calmly let Peter through the restaurant and out the door, keeping Peter's hand in a tight grip the entire time. Peter glanced in through the windows to see the alpha, Rob, still standing at the table with an expression that he could only describe as 'sullen'.

“What was that about?” Peter asked only to be shushed by Harry, who kept his eyes focused on the sidewalk in front of them. Peter looked behind them but no one else came out of the restaurant after them. “Harry, come on...”

“Shhh,” Harry hissed again, glancing behind them as well. Still no one. “Not yet, Pete.”

They continued down that street in silence with Harry occasionally looking behind them. Whenever he did, Peter would look as well but there was nothing to see. Rob had apparently taken the hint.

They turned a corner and Harry exploded.

“What a fucking asshole!” People turned to look at them but Harry seemed to be beyond caring. “Do you have any idea what he said as soon as we sat down in that damn booth?” 

Peter didn't know though he wagered he could make a pretty good guess except it didn't seem Harry was wanting an answer. Harry had turned to look at Peter, having to walk backwards down the street to do so, and lowered his voice, mimicking the faint accent Rob had had. “'It must be so hard for an omega like you to be in charge of such a large company. Omegas just weren't cut out for such stressful work.'” 

“He didn't say that!” Peter laughed, smiling at Harry, feeling himself relax now that the tension from before was gone. This was much better than the silent and tense boy that had left the restaurant with him.

“He fucking did!” Harry looked disgusted. “Along with 'My family's business has thrived for decades. I know all about what it takes to keep a company afloat.' The way he talked you'd think Oscorp was a bad check away from bankruptcy!”

“Wow,” Peter shook his head and pulled Harry out of the way of a streetlamp. The blond was too busy flailing his arms in anger to notice such things. He finally turned around so he was walking beside Peter. “What was that, anyway? A business dinner?”

“A date.” Harry scoffed, shaking his head. “That is the third bad date I've been on since I've gotten back.”

“A date?” Peter frowned, glancing back down the street though there was no absolutely no chance he'd see the restaurant or Rob. “Wait, why aren't you calling him an asshole to his face? I mean, you don't usually let people get away with crap like that.” 

Harry sighed and shrugged. “Rob is a pathetic leech if there ever was one but his father's an important business associate of Oscorp. Rob's enough of a whiny ass to cry to his daddy about it.”

“Had to break it to him gently then?” Peter asked, a smirk tugging at his lips.

“Something like that.” Harry shrugged, almost pouting. “I figured it making it look like I had no choice in the matter would assuage his ego. Last thing I need is for his father to back out just because the CEO of Oscorp hurt his precious boy's feelings.” Harry scowled. “He leaves tomorrow, thank fuck.”

“Why were you going out with him anyway?” Peter asked, shoving his hands into his pockets. “If he's such an ass?”

“He seemed alright until we got to the restaurant.” Harry curled his lip in disgust. “As soon as we sat down, he kept going on and on about how cruel it was to expect an omega to run such a large company by themselves, how omegas should be making families and not wasting their time doing silly things like managing a company.”

“Real prize you found there.” Peter said dryly, shaking his head. He wondered how anyone could think Harry wasn't capable of doing anything. “Wait, he was your _third_ date?”

“Ugh, _yes_ ,” Harry shook his head. “And all of them have been like _that_ ,” He flung a hand out in disgust, as if Rob and his ilk were there in front of them, waiting to be judged.

“That's got to suck, man,” Peter said, sympathizing. “Didn't you say you weren't interested in relationships though? Why the dates?”

Harry groaned and rolled his head back to stare up at the starless New York sky. Just under his shirt, Peter caught a glimpse of sleek black leather. “My heat is next month.”

“ _Oh_ ,” Peter nodded, suddenly interested in the side walk.

“I don't like going them alone,” Harry shrugged one shoulder and reached up to run a hand through his hair. “You know it wasn't nearly this hard before I came back. There was an unlimited supply of volunteers, happy to spend a heat with a spoiled rich kid. Now there's an unlimited supply of douchebags that want to take my company from me while I'm knocked up with their hellspawn.”

“You weren't CEO back then.” Peter shrugged as well. “I'd think even if you were alpha or beta, there'd be people trying to worm their way in.”

“But me being omega makes them think it'd be easy,” Harry rolled his eyes.

“Yeah.” Peter nodded. He looked over at Harry, a small smile tugging at his lips, “Hey, what happened to the other two?”

“Other two?”

“The dates.”

“Oh, them.” Harry smirked, eyes twinkling mischievously in the dark. “The first one tried to convince me of the cons of being an CEO – there are no pros in his world – and that I would be much happier to take his knot and let him handle the company.”

“Woooow.”

“I asked him to order the most expensive wine they had then I threw my glass in his face.” Peter laughed. “Then I took his glass and threw it as well.”

“Did that shut him up?”

“No idea. I took the bottle and left while he was still blubbering.” Harry grinned. “The second date lasted a bit longer. She didn't say anything about wanting the company or anything like that but she acted like I was made of crystal or something. She even tried to cut up my steak for me.”

“For real?”

“That's not even the half of it! The chivalry was cute at first, holding the door for me, pulling out the chair, but then she did that annoying thing where she ordered for me – a salad and soup, by the way. Fuck that – then she wouldn't let me order wine because, get this, 'alcohol's bad for fertility'.”

Peter tried to keep a straight face but one look at Harry's indignant expression set him off. He laughed loudly, stopping to lean against a wall.

“Fuck you, it's not funny,” Harry said, grinning. “But I did walk out after that.”

“You have the worse luck, you know that?” Peter said, breathing heavily as he tried to catch his breath. 

“I'm starting to notice that, yeah,” Harry huffed out a laugh. “Thanks for the help tonight, Pete.”

“I was kinda useless,” Peter shrugged, rubbing a hand over the back of his neck. “I just kinda stood there.”

“You did seem to be vibrating a bit,” Harry smirked. “Alpha senses kicking in?”

“Something like that,” Peter shook his head. “Was that why you called me instead of Felicia? Because I'm an alpha?”

“That was part of it, yeah,” Harry admitted, glancing over to judge Peter's reaction. “Thing is, guys like Rob? It takes another alpha to argue with him, he just ignores everyone else.”

“Yeah, I know the type but I don't cut the most intimidating figure, you know.” 

Harry shrugged. “You don't need to. Just being an alpha would slow them down long enough for me to get us out of there.”

“Wait, I'm just noticing the vocab here – are you planning on doing this again?” Peter looked at Harry, crossing his arms. 

“If you don't mind...”

“Why not just date someone who isn't an asshole?” 

“Oh, because that's such a noticeable thing at first glance!” Harry scoffed, mirroring Peter's stance and crossing his own arms. “I'm not looking for a long term thing, Pete. Just something for next month then I don't have to worry about it for another three.”

“I don't know, Har,” Peter sighed, “It just sounds dangerous. What if the guy doesn't like rejection?”

“That's why I have you,” Harry grinned at Peter brightly before shrugging, “Also, I got a taser and a few bodyguards I can call if things get out of hand.”

“Why didn't you call the bodyguards before?”

“Discretion, Pete!” Harry rolled his eyes. “I still get reporters and paparazzi following me around when they can. They'd love a story like that.”

“Oh, so you being saved by bodyguards is much more interesting than you running off with some scrawny no-name alpha?” Peter asked, incredulously. “How do you figure that?”

“Bodyguards tend to cause a scene,” Harry smiled. “Though I'm sure we get caught by some of the cretins, you'd get an article or two. Maybe front page in the gossip magazines a few times.”

“Oh, just what I always wanted. To be the mysterious boytoy to some rich kid,” Peter muttered but held up his hands in surrender. “Fine, I'll be your emergency Get-Out-Crappy-Dates guy. Just... don't text me 'Emergency' and an address. You scared the crap out of me!”

“What did you think happened?” Harry laughed. “That I hated the menu? That I fell into the oven?”

“I don't know,” Peter said, blushing as his overreaction was made clear. “Kidnapping, hostage situation? Things like that.”

“Pete, I would have called the police if it was something like that.” Harry sighed in exasperation. “I wouldn't want you anywhere near something like that.”

“Oh, thanks.” Peter said, rolling his eyes. He wondered if Harry would still feel that way if he knew he was Spider-man... he probably would if Gwen was any indication. Dang it.

“Nothing personal, Pete.” Harry assured him. “I don't need you to save me from kidnappers – I have people and a taser for that – but you can save me from overbearing alphas who think I'm more of a possession than a person.”

“Well, I guess it's better than nothing.” Peter smiled slightly. Hey, it was something, right? 

“Your not-girlfriend won't mind, will she?” Harry asked, glancing over at Peter. “Is it still in the complicated zone?”

“Um...” Peter sighed, “I guess not. She's, uh... she's moving to England. Well, she _might_ be moving to England. She, uh, she has an interview and she might be going to Oxford... in England...”

“Impressive,” Harry nodded, looking Peter over. “You okay with that?”

“Well, I gotta be, don't I?” Peter said. “Not my choice and she's already really excited about it. I can't mess that up for her, ya'know?”

“Yeah, I know,” Harry smiled slightly. “You're something else, you know that Pete?”

“Thanks?” Peter returned the smile. “That's a good thing, right?”

Harry laughs at him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm smudging the timeline a little bit here. It was something that annoyed me about the movie: From the time Norman dies to the end of the movie, only two or three days pass. That is way too fast for me so I'm stretching that out over a week or two.
> 
> Also, as I was writing this chapter, I realized that this fic is going to be more than 3 chapters - closer to 5 or 6. So there's that.
> 
> My personal tumblr is [here](http://kariki.tumblr.com/), my writing tumblr can be found [here](http://thewritingdemon.tumblr.com/).


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